Embroider your own ‘Roman de la rose!’

Since January 2024, we have created a collection of Beadingschool Art Cabochons corresponding with every Theme of the Beadingschool Academy that we are playing with. The Rosetta Window Theme brings you several new colors and a brand new shape: the rectangle. It is like a canvas, asking for a symbol enclosing that mysterious story. Maybe a sword, a rose, a window? Or a clean slate, waiting to be marked? It’s up to you!

My absolute favourite from the whole Rosetta Window Art Cabochon Collection is the one with the Gothic Window, especially in the beautiful Misty Turquoise color.

Would you like to know more about how our Beadingschool Art Cabochons are manufactured? Click here for the videos!
And would you like to learn the basics, or expand your knowledge of bead embroidery? Here you can find everything you need to know!

Material list for a pendant/necklace:

• Ultra Suede as your foundation
• Iron on interfacing
• Ultra Suede or leather for the backing
• 0.12 mm / 6LB Fireline
• 11/0 Tulip beading needle
• 10/0 short Tulip bead embroidery needle for sewing the layers together
• R11 – 11/0 Miyuki seed beads
• R15 15/0 Miyuki seed beads (1-3 colors)
• P3 – 3 mm round glass pearls
• P6 – 6 mm round glass pearls
• BUG3 – 3 mm Miyuki bugle beads
• 20×45 mm Beadingschool Art Cabochon – rectangle 
• 1x multi-strand clasp for the front as decoration
• 1x clasp for the back as closure
• Ruler
• Scissors

Finished size of the motif (beaded part without the clasp): 4×7.2 cm / 1.57x 2.83 inches.

The Bible of Bead Embroidery Knowledge: The Traveller

I recommend starting here if you are new or want to deepen your existing knowledge. If you would like to bead any of the more complicated jewels in the future, you will need to be 100% comfortable with the basics. The more advanced tutorials don’t repeat all the hints and tips every time, so before you dig deeper, please, give yourself some time, and bead a Traveller. The instructions are extremely detailed, everything is recorded on video, and you can watch them as many times as you need. There are also recorded Q&A sessions from the time when I was teaching The Traveller for the first time, that besides my insight, are also deemed with knowledge and experience shared by fellow, more experienced beaders.

After watching these videos and beading your first Traveller, you’ll be perfectly prepared to play with all the beads and components in this article!

Preparations

Iron on the vlizelin on the Ultra Suede.

Drew the outlines of the art cabochon on the Ultra Suede. Mark the middle of the sides using the ruler, and draw lines between the points. In case you would like to add extra decorations, etc, this helps a lot!

Glue on the art cabochon. Make sure the glue cures well before you’d like to start working.

The bezel 

Add R11 beads all around your cabochon using back stitch. Stitch down a maximum two beads at once.

Bead all around the R11 beads 1-2 times to ensure a smooth line of beads. Don’t pull the thread. Filling in the holes prevents the beads from moving around, and that is what matters. Don’t fill the holes yet completely though – you will still need to bead through these beads.

Start from an R11. Pick up (3) R15A + R15B + (3) R15A. *Skip (2) R11 and bead through the third one in the opposite direction. Bead back through the last R15A. Pick up (2) R15A + R15B + (3) R15A. Repeat from * all around the motif.

When you reach the last step, pick up (2) instead of (3) R15A and use the very first R15A to connect the beginning of the sequence to the end.

It might happen that you don’t have exactly the number of beads that are deductible by 3. It doesn’t matter: you can skip 4 instead of 3, etc. That’s the beauty of embroidery: you can make little adjustments, and thanks to the fabric, you can make it work.

In case of a taller – thinner cabochon you might need to adjust the number of seed beads.

Connect the R15A beads to each other with groups of R15B. I used mostly groups of (3), but needed to adjust to groups of (2) or (4) every here and there. Mostly (2) near the corners and (4) in the middle of the long sides of the cabochon.

Bead all around once more. Bead down through the fabric, and tie a double knot.

Decoration around the bezel

5. Bead up through the fabric about 1.5 mm from the beads. Add a sequence of 3 mm round pearls and R11 beads in between using back stitch. Bead all around the new beads. Finish by exiting a P3.

6. Add groups of (3) R15 between the P3.

7. Bead to a middle bead in the group of (3) R15.  Bead down through the fabric. Bead up before the same R15. Bead through it one more time. Pick up BUG3. Bead through the middle bead of the next group of (3) R15. Repeat all around.

8. Cut out the shape, leaving a slightly bigger edge – about 2 mm around the BUG3.

9. Glue on the backing. Cut out the shape again.

10. Switch to the embroidery needle and stitch together the foundation and the backing, while adding R15 beads all around.

11. Return to a BUG3 when you finished.

12. Add groups of (3) R15 between the BUG3.

13. Add groups of (2) R15 between the beads added in step 12, while skipping the middle beads of the groups. You might need to adjust to groups of (3) or a single new bead every here and there.

14. Bead to the top of the pendant. Find the R15 in the middle of the short edge of the motif. This is one of the beads joining the foundation and the backing. Bead through it. If there is no ‘middle bead’ exacly, attach the R11 to two neighboring beads.

15. Pick up R11 + (3) R15 + middle loop of clasp + (3) R15. Bead back through the R15 on the edge and through the fabrics (both layers). Repeat the thread path 1-2 times to make it stronger.

16. Attach the other loops of the clasp in the same way. Make sure that the distances between the loops are even.

17. Secure and trim all thread ends.

18. Take a new double thread and add strings of P6 and R15 or R11 to the side loops of the clasp used as decoration. Attach another clasp for closing and opening the necklace.

19. Secure and trim all thread ends.